SLAS Regular Meeting
Friday, October 16, 2015 7:30pm
McDonnell Hall, Washington University

Exploring the Pluto System - and Beyond

by

Dr. Kari Wojtkowski
Southwestern Illinois University

When NASA's New Horizons spacecraft flew by Pluto and its five moons on July 14, it provided the first detailed views of these ice worlds over four billion miles away. Dr. Wojtkowski will show some of the spectacular and mystifying images sent back by the robotic spacecraft, and she will describe the puzzling geology being revealed. Pluto is one of the largest of the thousands of ice worlds detected so far in the Kuiper Belt, a region far beyond the orbit of Neptune. New Horizons is now traveling an additional one billion miles on its way to a much smaller Kuiper Belt object.

Dr. Kari Wojtkowski is a graduate of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Missouri, St. Louis. Her research there centered on the early stages of star formation. In particular, she stud-ied the chemical composition of the clouds of gas, dust, and ices that condense to form new stars. Dr. Kojtkowski cur-rently teaches courses in physics, earth sciences, and astronomy for Lindenwood University—Belleville and Southwestern Illinois College.

Meeting Agenda

Welcome

Introduction of Officers and Visitors

Main Speaker:  Kari Wojtkowski

Astro 101: Video Kit

Vacancies in SLAS.

1. Board Member at Large - Brent Buch is nominated.  Closing of nominations and election will be held at this meeting.  Term is through May, 2018

2. Star Party Coordinator - communicates with the public regarding setting up outreach events, organizes events on Night Sky Network, sends notifications to members

3. Merchandise Chair - Organizes and selects SLAS merchandise to offer to the public and to members

Eyepiece kits for sale

Announcements

Star Parties